Tuesday, August 31, 2021
US troops withdrew from Kabul
Taliban want “good relations” with the USA
With the departure of the last military aircraft of the US troops, the Taliban also control the airport in Kabul. An escape route for those in need of protection from Afghanistan is blocked – for the time being. The radical Islamic fighters assert that they want to work with the United States.
After the US troops have withdrawn, the radical Islamic Taliban say they want a “good” relationship with the US. “We want to have good relations with the USA and the whole world,” said Taliban spokesman Sabihullah Mujahid in a speech at the airport in Kabul. “We welcome good diplomatic relations with everyone.” However, the NATO countries do not trust the Taliban’s statements and place their hopes on Turkey to bring more vulnerable people out of Afghanistan as soon as possible.
Mujahid congratulated the Afghans on their “victory” a few hours after the last US soldiers left the country shortly before midnight. “Congratulations to Afghanistan, this victory belongs to all of us,” said the Taliban spokesman, who was standing on the runway at Kabul airport.
Many local Afghan workers and other vulnerable people are still trapped in Afghanistan and fear retaliation from the Taliban. It is unclear whether civil flights will soon be possible again via the damaged Kabul airport. The FDP foreign politician Alexander Graf Lambsdorff hopes for the support of Turkey in the rescue. “Turkey is a member of NATO and dominated by Sunni, and the Taliban are also Sunnis,” he told the Augsburger Allgemeine. This predestines Ankara for this task.
Does Turkey allow civil flights from Kabul?
Turkish efforts to continue operating Kabul airport are a ray of hope for the stuck local armed forces and Afghan aid workers. At the same time, it would be important that Turkey “would also repair the civil sector again,” emphasized Lambsdorff.
He is also counting on talks with the Taliban to enable other people in need of protection to leave the country. “Ambassador Markus Potzel is already negotiating with the new rulers in Doha,” emphasized Lambsdorff. “The Taliban have promised that it will also be possible to leave the country after the US has withdrawn. Of course, I don’t know whether they can be trusted.”
The US Army had ended its deployment in Afghanistan last night after 20 years. A last US military aircraft took off from the airport in the capital, Kabul, which also concluded the military evacuation mission. US President Joe Biden had ordered a full troop withdrawal by August 31.
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